Appearences Can Be Deceiving
by ThatGreenGuy235
Summary: Team RWBY and Team JNPR are sent on an exchange trip. However, they soon find themselves in great peril and having to save Vale, whilst fighting friend and foe.
1. Chapter 1

**Author Note: Hi there! As I love RWBY, I figured I would start writing some fanfiction! I will try to update this as much as possible, but with current studies, I may not be able to keep my word on that. So, let's dig in!**

Ahh, another Monday morning in the world of Remnant. And at Beacon academy, it was normally pure bliss for Yang Xiao Long and team RWBY. Yang adored having no lesson in the morning, which meant she had two options:

1: She could lie in, forget all her troubles and cares, and enjoy her sleep

2: She could wake early, and have a massive breakfast and go for a run around the expansive Beacon grounds without trouble.

But this was no ordinary Monday! Yang had been foiled, not by her team of course. They all respected each other to let each other do what they wanted. So, why was Yang not able to sleep or go for a run?

_The weather._

Yep, a freak storm had hit Vale and Beacon, and Yang was FED UP! With no choice, she opened her eyes and surveyed her teammates. Blake's enhanced hearing meant she could hear every rumble of thunder as clearly as if she was lying in the sky, with much less comfort. Weiss was fidgeting in her bed, tossing and turning and may as well have been just been surrounded by critters! Ruby was... well... she was Ruby. As much as her team mates thought she was a great leader, and awesome to be around, she was unbelievable in mornings! She was bubbling with energy, and the first to zoom out of the room to go down to the shooting range, hopefully for perfect scores again. Wearily, Yang got out of her bed, and dragged herself into the shower.

Meanwhile, Blake was restless. She wanted to complete a section of work to get ahead of her classes, but the library was closed, but more importantly, the storm made her uneasy. It's sudden appearance, it's violent winds, and bellowing thunder all seemed too frightening.

"Stop it, Blake, you're being a child"

"You _are_ a child, this isn't right"

"You're just paranoid"

"You're a faunas, you know this is not a natural storm"

Her conflicting thoughts didn't help her discomfort, so she also woke, and got dressed.

Predictably, Weiss was annoyed. Damn, what was the point of doing anything today? This storm made everything pointless. "When did I get so moody?" she thought to herself, before remembering her first meeting with Ruby. A huge bolt of lightning right outside the window dragged her out of her thoughts and almost made her fall off her bed as she jumped. "I can't deal with this!" she shouted wildly, as if she was trying to yell the weather away, "We already have enough to deal with without this... storm" she continued. Blake turned sharply to her "WEISS!", somehow finding the energy to yell at her. "Sorry, it's just frustrating" Weiss muttered in reply. Blake didn't say anything, just inwardly chuckled at her team mate's refusal to curse in frustration. Yang came out of the bathroom, as her and Weiss switched. "Hello, Blake" she said silently. Blake turned to her partner in curiosity "I know this weather has got everyone down, but can I not get a 'HELLO BLAKEY' or 'GOOD MORNING PARTNER'? She declared delightfully, hoping to brighten things up. In reply, she got a frown and one small word from Yang "nope".

Weiss and Blake showered with a macabre atmosphere in the room. After they were done, they left the room to find Ruby appearing in a flash, surprising all of them.

"Hello, Good Morning, Salutations Team RWBY!" Ruby proudly proclaimed.

The three other huntresses didn't understand how Ruby could be so cheerful, Ruby stood arms raised into the air as if she was at a festival.

"You are such a child" Weiss complained, but in a slightly more light-hearted way.

"That's because I am one!" "Let's go, we have to see Professor Ozpin now" And with that, she sped off to Ozpin's office. Weiss, Blake and Yang started to trudge off when the realisation hit them.

"Erm, Professor Ozpin's office is through the courtyard" Blake said pensively.

"Which means we have to go..." Weiss started

"through that" Yang finished

The three of them stared wide-eyed into the deadly courtyard, with humongous splodges of rain hitting the flooded courtyard. Thunder conveniently chose to ring out from the heavens, and trees and plants were drenched in water.

"Well, this is a thing." Yang stated bluntly.

"Oh for goodness sake, why do we have to do this? Curse you!" Blake yelled, losing her temper finally.

"OK, girls, let's do this together" Yang said shakily. And with that, the girls ran with all of the very little energy they had into the courtyard.

Ruby was already sat down with Professor Ozpin, him drinking his usual coffee whilst they chatted casually. At this point, the elevator doors opened and Weiss, Blake and Yang, entered the room. Ruby couldn't help but burst out laughing at the state of her partners. Their clothes were absolutely drenched, every fibre of hair, especially in Yang's mane, was dripping rainwater and was dishevelled from the blustering winds. They were panting heavily, and all three of them scowled at Ruby who was still on the floor in tears laughing. They slumped into the other chairs and waited for Ozpin to speak. They knew him, he always spoke words that made you feel better.

With Ruby still laughing, he calmly spoke.

"Well, it seems a bit stormy outside."


	2. Chapter 2

**Author Note: Hello! To anyone who read the first chapter, thank you! With this story, I plan to hopefully finish it by the end of the year. This doesn't mean it is short, I just want to get it out there! What I do wanna say is that later on in the story, things could get slightly darker as a character is put in serious pain. I will do this, and if you're not interested in that, fair enough. It won't stray into M rated territory, but I will put in enough to make sure the scene is effective. Enough talk, let's read!**

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"Haha, very funny Professor" uttered Yang sarcastically. She wasn't particularly in the mood for jokes. No one else was. Well, discounting Ruby who had finally stopped cackling.

"Anyway, what did you want, Professor?" Ruby asked, with no hint of apprehension in her voice of what could be ahead. Blake was a bit more uptight about what he wanted.

Ozpin stood up from the table, took a drink, and started his announcement.

"You four are one of the most talented teams at Beacon. And I am proud to say you are all students who I embrace as symbols of what huntresses are meant to be. However, with your recent... exploits outside of your training dealing with criminals, I feel you need a different perspective, a different style of training. I cannot provide you this at Beacon."

There was a momentary pause. Ozpin was choosing his words carefully, as he always did, for he knew words were one of the most dangerous tools that could be used. The girls listened intently, slightly surprised at the headmaster, who basically criticised his own school. But they knew him. What he truly meant was that they could learn other lessons outside of Beacon. So they weren't surprised when he said this:

"So, in order to do this, I have decided to send you, along with Team JNPR, on an exchange trip."

There was a strange acceptance of this in the room. The girls all displayed different ideas, with Ruby having some sort of excitement, Weiss showing a sense of interest, Yang was still getting out of the haze of sleep, but showed a slight hint of puzzlement. Blake meanwhile, showed a unique expression of worry. She didn't object to the idea, she was just having a lot ideas swimming in her head at once

"Sir, who will teach us?" Blake immediately asked, her concern showing in her voice. "What will we learn?"

Ozpin smiled. He understood her concerns, and addressed her questions:

"A single teacher will teach you. He is a former huntsman, a man you may have heard of. Triste Vindicta. He will teach you about the psychology of fighting. What it means to fight mentally."

Ruby's face beamed with delight.

"Woah! That is so cool! When do we leave?" Ruby said with evident excitement.

"You will leave with Team JNPR within the hour, they will provide you with familiarity and friendship whilst in a new environment. I will try to keep as little contact between us as possible. You may leave." Ozpin finished.

The girls left and straight away turned to Ruby.

"So, who is Triste Vindicta?" Blake questioned.

"You don't know?" Ruby seemed confounded as to their lack of knowledge.

"Not going to lie, but you're the only one of us who is bothered to learn about past hunstmen, Miss History" Yang joked.

Ruby frowned at her sister, who simply smirked back at her.

"Triste Vindicta is a LEGENDARY HUNSTMEN!" Ruby exclaimed

Weiss remembered his tale "Oh, Vindicta was a huntsmen who participated in the faunus war. He fought for the humans, and was unique in the war."

Blake seemed unimpressed, " There were many unique huntsmen." She stated. "What makes him different?"

Weiss answered back in reply.

"He never killed."

Blake's interest piqued. "What? How did he get away with that?"

Ruby chimed in "He used a dust-infused staff that made Faunus looked dead and put them in a comatose state and gave them fake injuries, but at the end of the war, he was then able to remove them from their state."

Yang interrupted "What happened after the war?"

"There were many conflicts about what would happen. The White Fang hailed him as a honourable man, and were willing to offer him an ambassadorial role and land. Some councils, like the Vacuo and Atlas Councils, were split on the issue. Vale and Mistral wanted him punished for obstructing their efforts. No one won though, as he then moved away to an island outside of Vacuo." Ruby continued.

"It will be so cool to meet him" Weiss said excitedly.

They left to get ready, all eager to meet Triste. Blake had been extremely interested. Someone who went against something they had stood for in order to help more people. That was something she could relate to.

With that, once they had readied themselves, Team RWBY got on an airship and headed to Anesset, the island, to meet Team JNPR and meet Triste Vindicta.

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**Thank you for reading! I would really appreciate a review, and if you really did enjoy it, a favourite or follow. Have a merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Author Note: Hello, sorry about the irregular publishing of these chapters, but I'd rather create something i'm happy with rather than something rubbish immediately. At the end of this chapter, I have a bit at the bottom that I would really like people to read if that's okay. So, let's get to the writing. **

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All the girls anticipated landing as they waited to get to Anesset. The worst of the journey, where Weiss threw up with Ruby screaming at the storm in fright, was over and all were inwardly excited about the prospect of meeting Triste.

The girls saw the island of Anesset on the horizon. From far away, it seemed like an undiscovered piece of Remnant's puzzle. It was densely packed with huge trees and massive shorelines, with the waves of the sea moving with tranquillity. It seemed a paradise. Closer up, a large area was surrounded, but had some sort of crumbling monastery building. Blake and Yang had some sort of synchronicity as they thought:

" Who built that, Triste or others?"

Below, Team RWBY spotted the colourful Team JNPR waiting outside the admittedly muted colours of the building. The airship touched down outside, with the Team disembarking. Yang tipped the pilot with Lien, with which he gave her a confused look, but took it anyway. Ruby shot her a look. "What?" Yang said. "When there is money, you take it".

"That sounds like something Torchwick would do" Ruby muttered

"Yeah, but the money was on offer, not a steal" Yang replied. She knew since Torchwick had been arrested, Ruby was a bit more aware of the people around the world. But Yang loved her sister the way she was.

She didn't want the sister she cared for so much to become so cynical.

Maybe Yang was naïve like that, but there was something about Ruby and her innocence that made her more than a half sister.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of some very familiar voices.

"HELLOOOO" Nora's voice boomed out.

"Hey guys" Jaune said.

"Hey Jaune, how are you guys?" Ruby enquired.

"We're all good, ride here was bumpy though" Pyrrha said.

After the short meeting, the two teams turned their attention to what was in front of them. A humongous wall occupied a large stretch of rocky land. It seemed at odds with the outer view of the island.

"An island of contradictions" Ren remarked.

It was true. How could an island be so lush on the outer edges, but be so devoid of life in the centre?

The wall had an arched gate in the middle, seeming flimsy with a decaying silver, and it was overshadowed by a large, rocky structure.

"This looks so odd" Blake observed.

"I agree, where is this guy?" Jaune said

"This guy?" Ruby said. She was still full of excitement. On cue, the gate creaked opened.

Outstepped someone who outshone the bland ruins. The members of Team RWBY and Team JNPR were originally standing in boredom, now they were staring in awe as this figure walked towards them.

This man was thin, almost unhealthily so, but made up for it by being extremely tall, around 7 feet tall. He had yellow hair, arranged with two braids falling down his back. His luminous matching yellow eyes combined to make his face bright, but with a remarkable youth. He seemed... well... handsome, especially to Yang.

This man, with his fair skin, wore clothes that anyone from Vacuo would ooo and ahh at. He wore a giant longcoat, which had the wings of a phoenix embroided on the front, coming out from the zip that went up to his shoulders. They were a light shade of purple against the black long coat, with the outlines a fine white. The black coat reminded Blake of...

"Don't, Blake, you don't want to remember him" Blake told herself with scrutiny.

This man continued to slowly walk towards them, and the teams saw his black fingerless gloves that he had, with the middle finger of his left hand missing. His coat had shoulderpads and a sheathed dagger protuding from a strap on his coat. Black boots was what he had has footwear, and he wore some sort of simple tracksuit bottoms, ironic considering the complicated configurations of straps, pouches and pockets on his coat. He seemed to be studying all of them as he approached, and it slightly unnerved them all.

This man continued to walk from the gate, and his facial features showed scars; a horizontal one on the temple, and a small one below his bottom lip. His face was long, and had a very sharp complexion. His analytic expression started to make the members of Team RWBY and JNPR worry and change from staring in awe to studying in instinctual suspicion, who was this person?

This man couldn't be Triste. No way. He was way too young, Triste took part in the Faunus War, he most be hundreds of years old. All of them drew their weapons and pointed them at this man, who seemed undeterred by the array of weapons pointing at him.

"Who are you?" Weiss demanded, steely eyed and pointing Myrtenaster at him.

"Why, calm down my friends", the man said with a cool, calm voice, with a hint of Atlas eloquence.

"Now, why would you take aim at your teacher?" He said.

This man _was_ Triste Vindicta.

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**So, this is the first chapter I have released since the death of Mr Monty Oum. I heard the news, cried, and after a while, it occurred to me how through his work, you could see someone with a passion to create and someone who loved all of his creations. That inspired me. This idea that someone wanted to spend their life creating has made me apply this same philosophy to my own life, which is why I promise to update this story more often. Thank you Monty, and my condolences to his family and friends.**

**Thank you for reading, I hope you liked it, and I would appreciate a review and to know what you guys think could make this better. Thanks!**


	4. Chapter 4

So, this man, who was young and dashing, was actually an elderly gentleman. That made no sense.

"How do you look so young?" Pyrrha enquired.

Triste radiated calm. In his response, he explained he used the forest behind him. "The trees here contain fruits that can be refined with dust, Ms Nikos, to slow the ageing process". Before anyone else could ask, he clarified: "Professor Ozpin sent over some of your personal details. I know you all." That sorted introductions. "Ozpin clearly trusts him" Ruby thought to herself.

"Hey Weiss, you could start a cocktail line with dust infusions". Ruby said with genuine interest.

Weiss ignored her. And Yang's pun about Peach Schnee-aps. So Triste was on an island to preserve his youth. "If you don't mind me saying, Mr Vindicta, you do look very young".

Triste turned to her. Weiss had a brief loss of calm as he did this, his height still made him imperious. "Ah, you should know two things, Miss Schnee. One, that we all fear getting old and two, and most importantly, appearances are deceiving. Now then, RWBY and JNPR, come with me." He turned sharply and led them up the hill towards the huge gate. During this time, Yang approached Weiss.

"You look very young" Yang mimicked in a young girl's voice. Weiss immediately turned to Yang.

"I did not mean that!" Weiss got out quickly. The eavesdropping Nora laughed hysterically, which Weiss didn't take too kindly. At this point, she didn't couldn't deal with this people, and moved away from the group.

Pyrrha looked at Weiss. She seemed upset and approached Weiss. Having heard the conversation previously, she knew what was wrong.

"Hey Weiss. I know what fame is like. It means you can't get near a person you care about without them knowing the real you." Pyrrha said in a helpful tone.

Weiss turned to her. "Thanks Pyrrha, but it's not that."

Pyrrha asked "Then what is it?" She turned to make sure no one was listening in on the conversation.

"I..." Weiss chose her words carefully. "I'm not sure I really fit in the team".

Pyrrha was extremely surprised. "That's not true! The four of you are one of the best teams at Beacon. The canteen food fight was an example of you fitting into your team."

"It's not about the battlefield. I mean, think about them. Ruby and Yang are half-sisters who grew up on an island with a loving father. They are very jovial. Blake is subdued and inquisitive, but grew up in... difficult circumstances and was... misguided. Whereas me, I grew up in a rich family who had conflict, but gave me a lot, even if my father wasn't always so... giving. I just feel like i'm so different to the rest of the team that they might be better with someone else on the team. Someone who can relate to them a bit more." Weiss finished. She didn't feel any better even after admitting this to Pyrrha.

"Weiss, it's good that's the case. You care for them don't you?"

"Yes. If anything was to happen to any of them, I don't know what I would feel or do." Weiss responded.

"I'm the same Weiss. I'm very different to the others in my team. That doesn't mean I don't care about them or don't feel they'd be better with a different team member. You care about them and love them. Just by doing that makes you more than a team member." Pyrrha replied. She then left to speak with Jaune. As she did this, they arrived.

They went through the gate and Triste showed them a rather impressive courtyard. The courtyard was square enclosed by a ridiculous amount of more intense green trees. The trees had bright yellow fruits, which must have been the fruits Triste was talking about earlier. On the left and right were two identical stone buildings that almost looked like temples. They were massive in height and had a very cubed structure. A pathway shaped like a plus symbol split the courtyard into 4 equal rectangles, a very ordered structure. The group arrived at a statue in the centre, which displayed a human body. The body was split in half, with the human side painted black and with bony spikes you would see on a Beowulf. The other half was a faunus, shown by the antler and tail it had. This side was painted the brightest white imaginable. Triste stopped the group at this prominent display.

"Okay, my friends. As you can see, the four quadrants house different activities for you all. The top left quadrant here..." he said indicating to the north west of them. "has a target practice for you to sharpen your shooting skills. The quadrant to the right has an eating hut for any meals you so desire, and below that is this." He led the group to a large hole dug into the ground. As the group walked, Blake was left behind as she observed the statue before her. It was poignant to illustrate a faunus compared to a human, but she couldn't shake the feeling that it wasn't entirely true with the existence of the white fang and that this reflected a certain person's hatred.

"I know what you're thinking" Triste appeared behind Blake and a bolt of lightning flashed from the storm that Blake had almost forgot about. These two things combined to make her jump.

Triste laughed. "My apologies, didn't mean to scare you, but I saw you looking intently at this statue. Maybe if does show I still possess hatred for humanity, after all, why would I have it?" He then waited for Blake to answer his question. Blake didn't know what to say. This man was a complex mystery to her already. But she respected him. She simply said, "You enjoy art?"

Triste chuckled again. "Indeed, art is the spark that makes the world turn. Let's appreciate it, no matter what it portrays." With that, he turned and the pair joined the rest of the group to the hole. "So, this is a grass arena I made for anyone willing to train against them." The group then saw the cages of many different grimm. Ursa, Beowulf, you name it. He had it. Team RWBY couldn't help but be impressed. JNPR thought of it more as an opportunity. They hadn't trained as a team much, so it would be fun to do so here. Their collective excitement was interrupted by Triste.

"Right, students. Team RWBY's dorm is to the right of the statue, Team JNPR's to the left. You all have individual rooms. First class is tomorrow at 10:00 in the hall over there. No one is to go in the tower, as it is my place of privacy, goodbye!" Triste finished. He simply left the group there to collect their thoughts and sauntered into the tower. The tower and hall were dead ahead of the statue and the tower stood proudly, a structure that overshadowed all below it. It's stone bricks grew up to a dome at the top that had a single glass pane. No better place for solitude than the top of the world.

"He seemed odd" Ren remarked.

"No kiddin'" Jaune agreed.

"Odd, but cool" Ruby judged. "He's like Ozpin" she concluded. The similarities were there, both respected figures, both people who didn't overdo their words, and both exuded calm.

"I don't know... there's something about him that seems strange" Blake admitted.

"Blake, he's a teacher and a former huntsman, he's not Torchwick" Yang remarked, hearing Blake's undercurrent of suspicion.

"I guess" Blake shrugged. The two teams then felt the storm that was still raging at Beacon and in Vale come over as rain thudded from the skies.

"Quick, to the dorms! We'll catch you later guys" Ruby exclaimed. As quickly as she finished, she used her semblance to burst to the dorm. Luckily for RWBY, their dorm was a short distance from the Grimm cages, whereas JNPR sprinted the width of the courtyard. Not a fun trip.  
The storm's arrival and constant rain kept the teams inside their dorms for the day. Not that the dorms were bad. There was a small communal area as they entered with a round table for the four of each team, and the four bedrooms were at a wall opposite to the door.

"Guess no bunk beds then" Yang said bluntly.

"Oh well, cards?" Weiss said.

"You bet! I brought the Remnant board game! Ready to lose sis?" Ruby smirked.

"Bring it on sis!" Yang returned

The half-sisters would then rush to the table. Blake and Weiss simply looked at each other. Both of them rolled their eyes and also sat. And so, after hours, Team RWBY went to sleep, and would, in a few hours, awake in the morning for the first class with Triste Vindicta.


End file.
